Javelin Thrower

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One of the oldest weapons of all humanity, along with the wooden clubs, is the javelin. Short, light spears that can also be simple sharp sticks, Javelins differs from Blade on a Stick for many things: usually, while spears and lances are melee weapons associated to guards, soldiers, armies and-or cool-headed, calm individuals, javelins are different. They're weapons associated with speed, as its much lighter to carry than the spear.

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Javelins are favored by horse riders who can use it instead of bows and arrows (javelins are much more economic to build and easier to use). Is also a very old weapon, so it's usually seen in the hands of wild, primitive looking cultures. If the work takes place in a sea setting then you'll probably see its water cousin, the harpoon. Another advantage is that a javelin is more likely to penetrate armor than an arrow thanks to its heavier weight.

Sometimes certain powerful characters won't be satisfied with mere short spears and will show off by tossing very large spears around to fight. In Video Games, there'll often be the trick of javelins returning to the thrower or magically respawning/reappearing in his or her hand.

Often associated with the Lightning element (with thunder gods generally throwing lightning bolts around like javelins). In some cases they'll be coated in venom.

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There is a weapon itself known as the javelin-thrower, spear-thrower or atlatl which used leverage to increase the power and range of a thrown spear; users of these are also examples of this trope.

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Film

Wonder Woman (1974): The renegade Amazon Ahnjayla uses her javelin throwing skills to trick George into losing a couple of sucker bets. When Wonder Woman shows up riding the burro Ahnjayla tries to skewer her with a javelin but Wonder Woman catches it and throws it back.

One of the favored competitors in The Hunger Games is Marvel, whose Weapon of Choice is the javelin, with which he scores one of the film's relatively few on-screen kills of a named character.

The '80s Slasher MovieFatal Games features a javelin-wielding murderer killing athletes.

O Brother, Where Art Thou?: The one-eyed Klansman is nearly killed by a metal pole flying at him, but he catches it midair. The giant burning cross that falls on him, however, is not so easily stopped.

During her final showdown with Sunny in Fair Game, Jessica demonstrates some amazing skill in being able to use star pickets as javelins.

Javelins are iconic weapons of otters and hares in Redwall (as are slings) and are deadly when hurled in volleys.

Javelins are often used by horsemen in the Deverry series, although the author's notes point out that they're very short javelins (three feet) and an alternate translation of the Deverrian word might be "war dart".

Live Action TV

In Game of Thrones, the Night King hurls a very deadly ice javelin which is used to One-Hit Kill Viserion, one of Daenerys' beloved dragons. He almost succeeds in killing Drogon as well.

Midsomer Murders: In "Written in the Stars", the second Victim of the Week is done in with a thrown spear using a stolen Bronze Age spearhead; which is unusual even for Midsomer.

Mythology and Religion

Cu Chulain's spear Gae Bulg. It was also said to spread a thousand of shards inside the enemy wound.

In Norse Mythology Baldr was finally slain by a javelin (or arrow) made of mistletoe. Odin's spear Gungnir was also known for never missing what you threw it at. There's also a myth of Odin throwing a spear into the enemy army in the Aesir-Vanir War, which the Norse would do likewise before starting a battle. To explain the use of the term "spear" despite the trope name, it's believed the Norse used technically-only-intended-to-be-thrown javelins infrequently and a "spear" intended for both was much more common.

In Age of Mythology Peltast soldiers are javelineers strong against archers, while the heroine Regenlief use her long spear as a throwing weapon. The expansion has the Turma, Atlantean horsemen who attack by throwing spears. Satyrs can throw multiple javelins as a special attack (but are also notoriously weak).

Fire Emblem has the Javelin, Spear and Short Spear weapons. Along with magic and Hand Axes, they are the only weapons to have the benefit of having a 1-2 attack range, meaning that they can attack both up close and at a distance. However, aside from this fact, these weapons (save for magic) are some of the least efficient weapons in the series, combining scrappy damage, scrappy accuracy and overweight.

In Tales of Legendia, this is the weapon of choice for Moses. Like some other examples, he generates new javelins to throw out of nowhere.

Age Of Chivalry, a medieval combat-themed Half-Life 2Game Mod, features the javelineer as one of the three ranged classes, along with the longbow-wielding archer and the crossbowman. Of some note is the fact that he's the only ranged class with any notable close combat abilities, using a longspear and shield as his melee weapons

Its Spiritual SuccessorChivalry: Medieval Warfare combines the three classes, giving the Archer class the option to wield a javelin — and adding the ability to throw it while sprinting, increasing its damage dramatically. A javelineer can also now use his javelin in melee combat, doing away with the need to change weapons to defend yourself in close quarters.

In the Total War series, javelinmen are a core component of most early armies; a cheap, short-distance but high piercing unit that won't last long in any direct melee combat.

In Total War: Rome II, most melee units in the game carry javelins as well as their normal weapons which they'll throw just before charging the enemy or being charged. This is in addition to other specialized javelinmen and cavalry javelinmen units. Total War: Attila has the javelin be very powerful in damage output, ensuring they'll quickly tear apart even the most armored units if thrown from an unshielded side but are low in range and total ammunition. They are much more uncommon in Total War: Warhammer, limited to being in the hands a few Chaos and Norsca ranged units. In the Shogun series and Empire: Total War, javelins are entirely absent.

In Medievil one of the weapons you can obtain in the Hall of Heroes is a throwing spear given to you by an amazon queen. It has only 30 projectiles, but it's far more powerful than the longbow and the crossbow.

In Broforce, one of the characters (based on certain alien hunter) uses throwing spears as his primary weapon.

Empire Earth has javelin throwers (and later pilum throwers and Persian cavalry ) as a shorter-ranged, higher-damage alternative to the archer and is useful for reversing the Tactical RockPaperScissors. In the expansion's Roman campaign, the Legionary can throw two pila at full charge, making them remarkably good at turning enemies into pincushions.

Warcraft III: Troll Headhunters (and, rather uniquely, their upgraded version Troll Berserkers) throw spears and have the least range of all the factions' basic ranged units, while human bandits use poisoned spears.

Dark Souls III: This is the weapon art of the Follower Javelin, one of the weapons introduced in the Ashes of AriandelDLC. The description states that you're not throwing the spear itself, but rather an illusion of a spear that assumes temporary form.

Web Animation

Pyrrha Nikos wielded a weapon that acted as a javelin, or at least it did part of the time, with this being RWBY, it transformed into a short sword and rifle.

Webcomics

Chief's weapon of choice in Goblins is a magical javelin that splits into multiple projectiles when thrown and teleports back into his hand once it finds its target.

Tower of God: The entire point of the Spear Bearers. Special notice goes to Rak who wields a 5 meter long spear, which he also uses in hand-to-hand combat.

Western Animation

G.I. Joe: The character Lady Jaye used them, and they had multi-purpose heads, which got her and her friends out of numerous problems.

Real Life

Roman soldiers went to battle armed with pila (singular pilum): each was a heavy wood shaft joined to a pyramidal iron point by a fairly thin shank of softer iron. At least for some weapons at some times, the shanks would bend at impact, making it difficult for the enemy to pick them up and throw them back. (For others, the whole thing was of hardened iron.) Pila were dangerous in great part because they could penetrate a shield to strike the holder; failing that, a shield impaled with a pilum was hard to continue using as a shield.

Peltasts were the javelin-throwers of the classical era. Light troops used to pester the enemy, slowly bleeding it off while rapidly retreating from danger. So effective they were, being armed for maximum speed only with their javelins and light shields called pelta, after which they were named, that they smashed entire corps of powerful, heavily armed hoplites without as much as a scratch, removing them from their pedestal of battlefield dominance in the Mediterranean.

The Persian Palta, short and heavy cornel-wood spears, made to be hard and durable so they fared equally well as ranged or melee weapons. The most basic weapon of Persian horsemen were two of these, one for throwing and one for hand-to-hand, and was often the weapon of duels amongst mounted Persian noblemen. When engaging the Greeks, this gave the cavalry an edge, as the longer, more fragile Greek spears were more difficult to handle and tended to break first.

The African Assegai.

Most ancient cultures west of India made heavy use of javelins because it's easier to produce than the bow, the javelin's greater weight made it more effective against men wearing armor than most of the bows available, and doesn't require nearly as much skill to use effectively, specially at short ranges.

An ubiquitous weapon in the hands of native Americans in the form of the spear-thrower: A simple, effective device which at its most basic is a stick with a hook or cup at the back that holds a projectile usually as long as a short spear, and multiplies the strength of the user's throw by increased leverage, much like slings.

Common in Mesoamerica, The Atlatl, Náhuatl name for the spear-thrower, was a weapon very difficult to master, and so was a symbol of distinction and skill, the Aztec gods very commonly depicted wielding one. Also it was apparently able to punch through any armor, be it quilted, leather or chainmail. The only thing it couldn't pierce was the Spanish steel plate of the invasion period.

Also common in South America. The Muisca of the central highlands of Colombia held the Kysky, as it was called, in very high regard. It was a standard warrior weapon, their main tactic consisting on using the kysky while the enemy approached and then finishing it off in a clash of melee, apparently disregarding bows altogether. The army archers were prisoners from other peoples mostly of Carib stock, such as their arch-enemies the Panche, leaving the core Muisca army their hands free to throw the deadly projectiles, said by the Spaniards to be able to go through an unarmoured man entirely, and through any shield or armour the native peoples had. As symbol of prestige and warrior pride, the kysky is usually seen in the hands of their iconic gold figures of El Dorado fame, making clear the represented are men of battle and power.

It's known in Australia by the aboriginal word woomera, a prominent weapon in native combat, along with almost every throwing weapon ever conceived.

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